Red Roo Update

[RooFlyer]

<snip>
It's a pity there is so little on offer here for people who really love flying, and who do it frequently.

Hmmmm... I guess the "so little on offer ..." was the giveaway. Vinomofo is a case in point.

 

[Rugby]

My reading of the situation is that it's purely a cost cutting measure. They will continue monitoring AFF as there is value monitoring what we enthusiasts are doing and commenting on - I will miss the advance notice of product announcements and invites to events. But at the end of the day we, this excellent community, will roll on regardless.

 

[samh004]

Most of the best tricks probably aren't on AFF any more, but that is also unlikely to have been a huge draw for QFF, seeing people try to exploit every last loophole.

Sometimes they aren't. It's no secret the line "come to a social event and you may learn something not posted online" is used. I've learnt a lot of things by first establishing myself as a member, followed by attending social events and talking to other members.

I don't believe the only reason for QF to have a presence here was to shut down good deals, but we have adapted to a possible threat over time. And they took action where necessary.

Case in point, many mistake fares and other loopholes if you like were shut down, then at the end of 2015, while the main user of the Red Roo account was on leave, someone noticed a discrepancy in J points booking to Japan out of BNE. Ordinarily that would have disappeared in hours. But it actually went unnoticed by everyone for a few days. Suddenly someone noticed it, the thread for a lot of activity and bookings kept on being ticketed for a while. Reason being, no one was manning the account to see all the fuss. If they were, they'd have surely contacted the appropriate department and shut it down.

It's not a success story, it's a story about what happens when you don't pay attention to the group of people who will extract every last dollar out of your services... so we can be a good group to watch, closely! I just doubt they will.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I don't believe the only reason for QF to have a presence here was to shut down good deals, but we have adapted to a possible threat over time. And they took action where necessary.

QF had a massive focus group and free advertising on a huge scale (both of which would have cost them thousands of dollars commercially), they potentially had a large group of third party endorsers, and they gathered an enormous amount of intelligence (including loop holes).

QF did extremely well out of the deal. Except they weren't able to adapt to keep the some (many?) of the third party endorsers. Perhaps the criticism of the new PEY seats was the final straw?

 

[samh004]

QF did extremely well out of the deal. Except they weren't able to adapt to keep the some (many?) of the third party endorsers. Perhaps the criticism of the new PEY seats was the final straw?

If so then perhaps they shouldn't have overhyped them as being revolutionary, when they're simply not. Much as I want to compare a few other airlines PE products that were, this isn't the thread, but if that was the reason they finally left – and I doubt it – then it was all on them!

 

[mviy]

Promoting the new PE seats as "revolutionary" and then failing to deliver something revolutionary (e.g. angled-flat seats) was an example of QANTAS over-hyping. If QANTAS had said it was an evolutionary improvement over their existing seat then no one would have been disappointed with what they ended up delivering, but to hint at something special and not deliver was always going to disappoint.

 

[moa999]

If QANTAS had said it was an evolutionary improvement over their existing seat

And no media would have given them press.

They had already published the seat maps - it was fairly obvious that there was not enough room for lie flat

 

[samh004]

Promoting the new PE seats as "revolutionary" and then failing to deliver something revolutionary (e.g. angled-flat seats) was an example of QANTAS over-hyping. If QANTAS had said it was an evolutionary improvement over their existing seat then no one would have been disappointed with what they ended up delivering, but to hint at something special and not deliver was always going to disappoint.

And no media would have given them press.

They had already published the seat maps - it was fairly obvious that there was not enough room for lie flat

Just a reminder to anyone else not to drift too far off topic.

The 'new' Premium Economy on Qantas' Dreamliner already has its own thread.

 

[harvyk]

<snip> It's a pity there is so little on offer here for people who really love flying, and who do it frequently.

I'm going to make 2 comments about this,

1. There is the door, don't feel that you need to stick around if there is so little available.
2. The best secrets are never discussed out in open forums, they are discussed at the drinks / dinners which are organised by forum members. If you want the real gold (should I say platinum?) come to the drinks / dinners / social meetups.


Red Roo leaving is a bit of a pity, but I guess it's the whole limited resources thing. AFF certainly has a lot of high value pax, but one could also argue that those same people are also on facebook / twitter / the next big social media. It takes time and resources for QF to have an active member here, and since most of us will continue flying QF (or not flying QF as the case may be) regardless of a dedicated company rep, having a rep here would not be increasing the bottom line, like it would through other social media outlets.

It's a shame, Red Roo has always looked after me quite well, the few issues I have had they sorted out very quickly to my satisfaction (or at least my expectation). The flip side is of course it doesn't remove this forums usefulness by any stretch of the imagination. There will continue to be new things to learn, discussions about travel and all those little nuggets of info which mean I typically have a much better flying experience than all of my (non-AFF) friends.

 

[roncritch]

I only received help from RR the one time that I needed it and I appreciated it immensely. The continual downgrading of customer support by Qantas to me is worrying as we all know that the airline industry has good times and bad times. I think Qantas, especially with diabolical 2 hour phone waiting times, are relying on the current good times meaning when the downturn happens it will hit them harder. I guess by then the senior management will have retired with their great salaries and bonuses and leave it to a new wave. Such is Life!!

 

[Moody]

Red Roo wasn't exactly the golden goose (an inconsistent layer at best), but AFF surely killed it with petulant demands for real or imagined slights to be addressed. The sad fact is it wasn't worth the bother for Qantas to resource the position, and no doubt the funds have been channelled into some Big Data projects that provide Business Intelligence rather than Bull**** Indignation.

Or am I being too harsh??? Oops!!!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

...but AFF surely killed it with petulant demands for real or imagined slights to be addressed. The sad fact is it wasn't worth the bother for Qantas to resource the position...

And yet so many other airline reps manage to do it, do it well, and engage with forum members in a productive manner. Rather than being dismissive, they value the feedback and work to either fix things or provide an explanation.

 

[RooFlyer]

Sorry, I'm unaware of such 'petulant demands' .

Red Roo was just another AFF member, with the ability to facilitate assistance if they chose to do so; many other AFF members gave help to others requesting it too, to the extent that they were able.

Red Roo was a PR initiative, with side benefits of occasional real assistance (mostly cleaning up Qantas' own errors). The position has been enhanced ... like so many of other Qantas initiatives.

 

[boomy]

I'm going to make 2 comments about this,

1. There is the door, don't feel that you need to stick around if there is so little available.
2. The best secrets are never discussed out in open forums, they are discussed at the drinks / dinners which are organised by forum members. If you want the real gold (should I say platinum?) come to the drinks / dinners / social meetups.


Red Roo leaving is a bit of a pity, but I guess it's the whole limited resources thing. AFF certainly has a lot of high value pax, but one could also argue that those same people are also on facebook / twitter / the next big social media. It takes time and resources for QF to have an active member here, and since most of us will continue flying QF (or not flying QF as the case may be) regardless of a dedicated company rep, having a rep here would not be increasing the bottom line, like it would through other social media outlets.

It's a shame, Red Roo has always looked after me quite well, the few issues I have had they sorted out very quickly to my satisfaction (or at least my expectation). The flip side is of course it doesn't remove this forums usefulness by any stretch of the imagination. There will continue to be new things to learn, discussions about travel and all those little nuggets of info which mean I typically have a much better flying experience than all of my (non-AFF) friends.

Well said!

There are many members here who love flying and do it frequently and also contribute a lot of useful information. If one can't see that they should wear better glasses or leave.

I don't know why the RR project was cancelled and no point guessing because it makes no difference.
Although, as P1 I always had SST at my disposal and didn't require RR's help, I do know for a fact that RR helped a lot of members here with REAL issues they would otherwise take much longer resolving with QF.

In retrospective, there was quite a lot of whinging after QF made some drastic changes to the QFF programme few years ago and, being QF's rep, a lot of that was unjustifiably targeted towards RR, who had nothing to do nor could do anything to change the final outcome but having met RR I know it didn't bother them and they enjoyed engaging with AFF members.

 

[drron]

I certainly appreciated Red Roo in the past though only 1 minor problem fixed.It was obviously was a 2 way street between Red roo and AFF.
As too a lot of the knowledge disappearing from this forum-yes certainly not as much as there was.Totally understandable with over time people boasting how they benefitted but offered nothing in return.I certainly am unlikely to post something I have discovered but will let those I meet know if it would benefit them.

But I am not pessimistic.Although Red Roo will not be as obvious on AFF there are people here who are close to QF and will probably let QF know if there are major issues raised here.I had an issue with VA and Velocity which I raised here after no satisfaction communicating with the airline.Because of members help both in notifying VA and by PM to me the Velocity team finally escalated the matter to more senior members of the team.Not only did the Velocity rep here get involved but eventually everything was resolved satisfactorily.

I am obviously as guilty as anyone at raising non travel,non flying matters here.But it is easy when you want to know about a particular travel,airline or hotel issue to go to the relevant sub forum.On top of that I do love the trip reports.I get so many ideas and tips from reading other people's TRs and I hope that in return I give others some ideas.

So it is sad to see the end of an era with QF enhancing their presence but I still am optimistic that AFF will still provide me with ideas for the greater enjoyment of my travels.

 

[cmon0005]

Red Roo wasn't exactly the golden goose (an inconsistent layer at best), but AFF surely killed it with petulant demands for real or imagined slights to be addressed. The sad fact is it wasn't worth the bother for Qantas to resource the position, and no doubt the funds have been channelled into some Big Data projects that provide Business Intelligence rather than Bull**** Indignation.

Or am I being too harsh??? Oops!!!

A bit harsh I think, there were many more PM's between RR and myself and many others in this forum, raising genuine issues that affected other customers as well, often resulting in things being fixed from a system, operational procedure.etc point of view, just because you didn't see them in public doesn't mean lots was going on via private messaging, I know this first hand and from speaking with other AFFers over time at events.

So to say RR only received 'whinging' is untrue, there were many major things addressed because of our collective knowledge and RR's presence. I would say QF m'ment probably underestimated what a useful source of info and real positive suggestions for the greater good AFF was.

 

[GoldCanyon340]

Dear Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services,

I would very much appreciate if Red Roo was unenhanced.

Thank you and best regards....

 

[Jet L]

Dear Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services,

I would very much appreciate if Red Roo was unenhanced.

Thank you and best regards....

You know QF is in trouble when you address them by their full name

 

[straitman]

Red Roo wasn't exactly the golden goose (an inconsistent layer at best), but AFF surely killed it with petulant demands for real or imagined slights to be addressed. The sad fact is it wasn't worth the bother for Qantas to resource the position, and no doubt the funds have been channelled into some Big Data projects that provide Business Intelligence rather than Bull**** Indignation.

Or am I being too harsh??? Oops!!!

A bit harsh I think, there were many more PM's between RR and myself and many others in this forum, raising genuine issues that affected other customers as well, often resulting in things being fixed from a system, operational procedure.etc point of view, just because you didn't see them in public doesn't mean lots was going on via private messaging, I know this first hand and from speaking with other AFFers over time at events.

So to say RR only received 'whinging' is untrue, there were many major things addressed because of our collective knowledge and RR's presence. I would say QF m'ment probably underestimated what a useful source of info and real positive suggestions for the greater good AFF was.

I agree with cmon0005 on this and believe that you are being too harsh Moody.

There were many occasions when there was -ve feedback to RR but there were also many when there was +ve feedback. Just because it wasn't out there for all to see didn't mean it didn't happen. It's a bit like a duck in a pond.

Can the cost of RR leaving be accurately calculated? I don't believe so but many here will be a little worse off from the lack of available interaction with RR.

I also believe that Qantas will be a little worse off as people no longer feel that love to or from Qantas. It only takes a few lost bookings to cover the cost of the time that RR spent at AFF. I have already made one booking elsewhere that probably would otherwise have been made with Qantas.

 

[boomy]

I also believe that Qantas will be a little worse off as people no longer feel that love to or from Qantas. It only takes a few lost bookings to cover the cost of the time that RR spent at AFF. They have already lost one booking from me.

Good point!

The cost of hiring one person who deals with multiple social media forums is negligible compared to the potential revenue lost when just one high flyer decides to jump ship after not being properly taken cared of by QF. What RR often did is basically "jump the queue" which helped solve various AFFers issues much faster.